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Topic: Lubrication for my tip ups (Read 2358 times)

Some of my tip ups are getting kinda hard to spin. I know the fish can feel this resistance. What lubrication do u guys use to make them spin nice and smooth with the least about of resistance. Is there a special product or r u using something like fishing reel oil?

Some of my tip ups are getting kinda hard to spin. I know the fish can feel this resistance. What lubrication do u guys use to make them spin nice and smooth with the least about of resistance. Is there a special product or r u using something like fishing reel oil?

A lot of guys use the sub-zero tip up lube.. it's either made by beaver dam or frabill, I forgot... I remember someone saying the tube is around $5.

As a side note... what kind of tip-ups are you using? I have some Heritage knock offs and I was thinking about copying the Heritage setup by putting a tube on the inside of the spool and then nylon washers on the outside to try to keep it water tight. If I can accomplish it correctly, hopefully they will spin as clean as Heritage tip-up's do.

I bought some Frabill sub-zero lube to try. It works good but it just looks like slightly thinned down white lithium grease. What I did was buy a tub (16oz. I think) of white lithium grease (Under $3 a tub) i thin down small amounts of the grease with WD-40, MM oil, Liquid Wrench 3in1 oil or whatever is handy. Works well and is a lot cheaper than the subzero lube.

I bought some Frabill sub-zero lube to try. It works good but it just looks like slightly thinned down white lithium grease. What I did was buy a tub (16oz. I think) of white lithium grease (Under $3 a tub) i thin down small amounts of the grease with WD-40, MM oil, Liquid Wrench 3in1 oil or whatever is handy. Works well and is a lot cheaper than the subzero lube.

Hey Guys. I'm a chemist. WD40, liquid wrench, etc. has got a mix of nasty chlorinated compounds that don't degrade once they get into the water. It also doesn't take much to pollute the water with those chemicals. Just sayin', two three guys using it once a year probably won't cause serious harm, but, if a bunch of guys use it, well the situation can cause a negative impact. Try just using less grease or vaseline instead. Leave the chlorinated solvents for the garage/shop.

Vaseline will thicken up in the cold and is too thick at even room temp. I never noticed any chemical residue floating on the waters surface or anything. For the most part the grease stays in the tube. You don't need much wd-40 or others to thin down the lithium.

A lot of guys use the sub-zero tip up lube.. it's either made by beaver dam or frabill, I forgot... I remember someone saying the tube is around $5.

As a side note... what kind of tip-ups are you using? I have some Heritage knock offs and I was thinking about copying the Heritage setup by putting a tube on the inside of the spool and then nylon washers on the outside to try to keep it water tight. If I can accomplish it correctly, hopefully they will spin as clean as Heritage tip-up's do.

I have a few of those HT polars. I replaced the nuts on mine with some nylock nuts because the cheapo nuts that come from factory are not very good. I also epoxied the plastic spools to the nut on the end which helps when taking the tipups apart.(A handle) Had trouble with the spools spinning on the shaft, a little epoxy fixed it up.

Frabills sub zero lube is designed to repel water and stay liquid when cold . I dont know how white lithium will handle water contamination. If the lithium and water mix it will get very stiff and cause you to miss light biters. A $5 tube of Sub Zero has done great for me for may years , only takes a small abount to relube a reel.

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Its better to be thought an idiot , than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.......

My HT are annoyingly free spinning. Have had my tipups iced in and burryed in snow and they still spun. Doesn't get super duper cold where I am so maybe lithium will be troublesome but I doubt it. The lithium grease repels water pretty decent. All I know is the subzero looks, smells and feels like white lithium. I'm not paying $6 plus shipping for a small tube of subzero grease when my homemade mix works.